Computer system using a storage area network and method of handling data in the computer system

ABSTRACT

In order to construct an integrated storage system by reinforcing collaboration of components or functions of a storage system in which a storage area network (SAN) is used, in a computer system comprising multiple client computers, multiple various servers, multiple various storages which keep data, a local area network (LAN) which connects the computers and the servers, a storage area networks (SAN) which lies between the servers and said storages, the SAN forms a switched circuit network which is capable of connecting any servers and any storages through fiber channel switches, and the computer system further comprises a terminal which is equipped with operation and management software which performs storage management including management of logical volumes in the various storages, data arrangement, and error monitoring, management of setting up said FC switches, and backup operation for data in said storages.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to storage systems for storingdata, in particular, a technique relating to methods for the dataprotection of handled data, the data sharing, the storage resourcemanagement, and the data handling.

[0002] At present, environment in which the information processing isperformed has been changing drastically as a result of development ofthe Internet and Intranets, and expansion of such applications as datawarehouse, electronic commerce, and information service, and this changehas resulted in rapid increase in the amount of handled data.

[0003] For example, while the performance of CPUs has improved 100 timesfor the last five years, the input and output performance of disk driveshas been held in about 10 times improvement. That is, the limit of theinput and output performance compared with rapid increase in traffic hascome to give rise to apprehensions. In addition, as applications such asenterprise resource planning (ERP), which processes a mass of data, anddata warehouse have come to wide use, and information to be processed(documents, drawings, visual contents, etc.) has been diversified andcommunicated in Multimedia, demands of enterprises for a total diskcapacity has increased two times a year on an average. Further, asstorage capacities used in enterprises and others have increased and useof storages has been diversified, the running cost of storages has alsoincreased. Furthermore, backbone data in main frames has been shared andutilized by individual departments.

[0004] Described below is the situation of the information processingenvironment resulting from increase in the amount of handled data byusing FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 2, relations between servers and storagesare established in such a way that, for example, a main frame (MF) as aserver for a large-scale computer, a UNIX server as a server for amedium-scale computer, and a PC server as a server for a small-scalecomputer are connected with their respective exclusive storages, forexample, RAIDs (Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks) and magnetictapes (MTs), and client computers give instructions to their respectiveservers via a LAN and perform data processing by using an exclusivestorage for the relevant server.

[0005] Recently, proposed was a Storage Area Network (SAN) environmentin which a SAN is constructed between the various servers and storagesdescribed above, and individual servers are allowed to access to any ofthe storages. Here, the SAN means a network that connects multipleservers and multiple storages through fiber channels, and is used onlyfor input to and output from storages, and a SAN realizes the sharing ofvarious storages, high-speed data processing between servers andstorages, and long distance connection.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] As described above, an SAN is being introduced into environments,in which the information processing is performed, in order to improvethe input and output performance, to expand a total disk capacity, toreduce the running cost of storages, and to expand data sharing. TheSAN, as shown in FIG. 2, is a new type of networks that connect multipleservers and multiple storages through a high-speed network (for example,fiber channels). In this environment, storages which are connected withtheir respective servers and are controlled by the servers are givenindependence from the servers, and at first a SAN used only for storagesis constructed. In addition, all users that have an access right areenabled to share storage information on the SAN network.

[0007] In addition, connecting multiple storages enables to improve theinput and output performance of the storages very significantly. Thatis, as merits, drastic improvement in the input and output performanceof the storages (improvement in the performance), setting up andexpanding flexibly a storage environment independently of serverenvironments (improvement in scalability), unified storage operation(improvement in the storage management function), disaster measures byexpanding the connection distance drastically (improvement in the dataprotection capability), etc. have been achieved.

[0008] However, existing proposals of SAN networks did not alwaysdisclose clearly concrete configurations or embodiments to realize theseSAN network.

[0009] An object of the present invention is, in order to ensure thevarious merits and usability obtained by employing an SAN, to provide aintegrated storage system in which collaboration over the entire storagesystem is reinforced by devising concrete functions of a storage systemand corresponding concrete configurations, and in addition, anotherobject is to provide a method for handling data more usefully at anInternet data center (abbreviated to “iDC”), which connects storages tothe Internet and keeps and makes use of a large volume of data, byapplying an integrated storage system to iDC.

[0010] In order to solve the issues described above, the presentinvention employs mainly the following configuration of a computersystem and the following management method.

[0011] A computer system that is provided with multiple clientcomputers, multiple various servers, multiple storages storing data,local area networks (LANs) connecting said computers and said servers,and a storage area network (SAN) lying between said servers and saidstorages, wherein said SAN forms circuit switched networks by fiberchannel switches (FC switches) to make a mutual connection between anyof said servers and any of said storages, and said SAN is equipped withterminals in which management and operation software has been installedto perform the storage management including management of logicalvolumes in said various storages, data arrangement, and errormonitoring, the management of setup of said FC switches, and the databackup operation for data in said storages.

[0012] In addition, the management method is a method for managing asystem comprising servers, storages storing data of said servers, and anetwork connecting said servers and said storages, and the method worksin such a way that it obtains the information to identify data to beprocessed, obtains a specification of processing the data denoted bysaid information, gives said specification of processing to saidstorages keeping the data denoted by said information, and receives theresult of processing the data denoted by said information from saidstorages.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013]FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the basic overallconfiguration of an integrated storage system relating to a preferredembodiment of the present invention.

[0014]FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the overallconfiguration of a storage system according to a prior art.

[0015]FIG. 3 is a diagram describing the primary functions of anintegrated storage system relating to a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention.

[0016]FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the basic system configurationabout the non-disruptive backup in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention.

[0017]FIG. 5a and FIG. 5b are a diagram describing functions or actionsabout the non-disruptive backup in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention.

[0018]FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration in whichmirroring software is used about the non-disruptive backup in accordancewith a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0019]FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the preparations done in advancein a backup system and an example of system construction.

[0020]FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating examples of various systemconfigurations for backup by sharing tape units, relating to a preferredembodiment of the present invention.

[0021]FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a configuration for tapeunit-shared backup in which multiple servers share one tape library.

[0022]FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration forasynchronous remote copying in disaster recovery, relating to apreferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0023]FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration forhigh-speed DB replication between servers in data sharing, relating to apreferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0024]FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating error monitoring and backupoperation in integrated system operation and management, relating to apreferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0025]FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating centralized management of thestorage performance in integrated system operation and management,relating to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0026]FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating storage management, inparticular, the LUN manager and LUN security in integrated systemoperation and management, relating to a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention.

[0027]FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating storage management, inparticular, hierarchical control in a subsystem in integrated systemoperation and management, relating to a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention.

[0028]FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating switch management; inparticular, setting of zonings in integrated system operation andmanagement, relating to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0029]FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating outline of a systemconfiguration of an Internet data center in which an integrated storagesystem is used, relating to a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention.

[0030]FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating storage integration in anInternet data center in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention.

[0031]FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration fornon-disruptive backup in an Internet data center in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0032]FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration forensuring security in an Internet data center in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0033]FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating an example of systemconfigurations of a large-scale computer system in which individualcomputer systems of multiple enterprises are connected mutually.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0034] The following describes a computer system in which a storage areanetwork (SAN) is used and a method by which data is handled, referringto the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the basicoverall configuration of said computer system relating to a preferredembodiment of the present invention.

[0035] In FIG. 1, the computer system in which the SAN is used consistsof a main site and a remote site, and these sites are connected via aWide Area Network (WAN). At the main site, multiple client computers andvarious servers, for example, a main frame (MF) as a server forlarge-scale computers, a UNIX server as a server for medium-scalecomputers, and a PC server as a server for small-scale computers, areconnected via a LAN. In addition, a dedicated terminal in whichoperation and management software on integrated storage system has beeninstalled is connected with the LAN, and the whole of the integratedstorage system is operated, managed, and monitored by using theterminal. This operation and management software can be installed in anyof the client terminals instead of the dedicated terminal and therelevant client terminal is used for operation and management of theintegrated storage system.

[0036] Further, storages such as a RAID, a tape library, and a DVD-RAMlibrary/library array are connected with the server such as the mainframe (MF) server, the UNIX server, and the PC server via a Storage AreaNetwork (SAN) consisting of network switches such as a fiber channelswitch (FC-Switch) and a fiber channel hub (FC-Hub) not shown in thefigure. In addition, the main site is connected with the remote siteconsisting of the same components as those of the main site via a widearea communication network such as WAN.

[0037] Here, since the servers and the storages are connected throughchannel switches in the SAN, the servers and the storages which areconnected through channel switches are enabled to be added, detached,and changed optionally. Therefore, firstly storages are enabled to beadded and detached optionally to suit the storage capacity and the kindand object (access speed, cost, etc.) of data to be stored. The serversides are also enabled to access these storages without any restrictionvia the channel switches.

[0038] In addition, since the main site is connected with the remotesite via a WAN, data can be shared between the sites, and a great amountof data can be shared worldwide. In addition, if a copy of data at themain and remote sites is retained at each other site, even when eithersite fails due to a disaster, etc., jobs can continue to run using thedata at the other site. In this case, storages for backup data at theremote site are not limited to the same type of storage as at the mainsite, for example, not limited to copying from a RAID on the main sideto a RAID on the remote side, and hence cost reduction and simplifiedmanagement may be achieved by copying from a RAID on the main side to aDVD-RAM or tape library, etc., on the remote side. In this case, theoperation and management software on a terminal for managing a SANmanages the copy source, copy destination, etc., of these data.

[0039] In addition, in a prior art shown in FIG. 2, clients areconnected with an application-specific server, for example, a mainframe, a UNIX server, and a PC server, individually throughcommunication lines such as a LAN, and individual servers are alsoconnected via a LAN. Storages are connected with their respectiveservers. Therefore, data stored in the storages could be accessed onlythrough their respective servers.

[0040] On the other hand, in the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, data stored in storages connected with individual servers aremanaged in an integrated manner via a SAN. Firstly individuals ofmultiple servers are connected to various storages (such as a RAID diskdrive, a tape library, and a DVD-RAM library/library array) via fiberchannel switches (FC-Switches) of which the SAN is comprised. Thereby,data stored in individual storages are enabled to be accessed directlyfrom individual servers without passing a LAN. For example, access to agreat amount of data, etc., is simplified. In addition, since storagesfor data are consolidated into an integrated storage system, managementof data and equipment is simplified.

[0041] In addition, in order to make backup and remote copies, etc., ofdata against a disaster, individual storages corresponding to eachserver must be installed and the data must be copied via a LAN accordingto a prior art, however, in the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, an integrated storage system consisting of a SAN and variousstorages is introduced, and hence the integrated storage system enablesto back up data, and furthermore remotely and more efficiently.

[0042] As a computer system to which a SAN is applied is outlined above,the computer system must be an information system that is intendedprimarily for making any information about the data to be handledavailable at any time, for anyone, and from anywhere.

[0043] The integrated storage system relating to a preferred embodimentof the present invention, as disclosed in FIG. 3, firstly has as one ofthe basic functions the data protection that provides the backup as ameasure against disk drive failures and the disaster recovery as ameasure against a disaster such as an earthquake and fire, secondly hasas one of the basic functions the data exchange and sharing among mainframes, UNIX servers, and PC servers and the data sharing in which manytypes and forms of information such as a database (DB), documents,drawings, multi-media contents are handled, and lastly has as one of thebasic functions the storage management (storage resource management)that provides unified management of storages that each server operatedand managed separately, and the environment set-up and storageoperation/management by standardized operations.

[0044] Concretely described below are details of individual basicfunctions according to the present invention. These functions arerealized by installing a program (software), which describes thesefunctions, and necessary data in memory of devices such as a storage, aswitch, a server (computer), and a management unit (realized by acomputer, etc.), and executing the program on a central processing unit(CPU) in theses devices individually. In addition, a data center inwhich a SAN applied computer system consisting of a system group of alarge capacity of storages and various servers is connected to theInternet and is equipped with data storage service functions, namelyInternet data center (abbreviated to “iDC”), is constructed, and aninventive device relating to a method for processing a mass of data atthat iDC is one of features of the present invention.

[0045] First the data protection is described. Functions of the dataprotection are intended for backup of DBs during online operation,reduction in the management cost by sharing storage resources,improvement in system availability by means of disaster recovery, etc.,and assurance of data security, and thereby, enable to back up datawithout stopping a job (non-disruptive backup) for 24-hour-per-day,365-day-per-year operation that is expected to increase in the yearsahead, enable to share a tape library at the time of backup (tapeunit-shared backup), resulting in reduction in the cost as well, andfurther enable to restore the system rapidly in the event of a disasterby ensuring data security in copying remotely at long distance (remotecopying). To put it concretely, the details of the data protection arethree techniques of the nondisruptive backup, the tape unit-sharedbackup, and the asynchronous remote copying as described above.

[0046] Firstly functions or actions of the non-disruptive backup enableapplications to run even during backup operation by the backup using areplica of data, and prevent application servers from being affected byusing servers for backup only.

[0047]FIG. 4, FIG. 5a, and FIG. 5b illustrate a configuration for, and afunction of the non-disruptive backup in detail. An outline of thisfunction is to back up DBs without affecting online jobs via a SANwithout passing a LAN by collaboration between internal functions instorages and database management system (DBMS) in application servers.

[0048]FIG. 4 illustrates a series of a flow of the non-disruptivebackup. First, by using said internal functions in storages, copyingfrom the volumes to be backed up (primary volumes) to the secondaryvolumes with a capacity equal to or larger than that of the primaryvolume in a storage unit is executed to make a copy of the primaryvolumes. Next, during execution of applications, the status of thedatabase management system (DBMS) in an application server is changed toa backup allowable state to prevent online jobs from being affected, andthen the backup server makes a backup copy of data in the secondaryvolumes to tape units.

[0049]FIG. 5a and FIG. 5b illustrate an outline of the processing by thevolume copy function that is an internal function of a storage unit, ina process of the nondisruptive backup illustrated in FIG. 4. Accordingto a prior backup technique not shown in the figure, originally, afterstopping the jobs which a server performs to a database (DB), a backupcopy of the DB is made to other storages, and after the relevant backupprocessing is complete, said online jobs to the DB is restarted.According to the prior art, online jobs to a DB must be in stop duringbackup operation.

[0050] In contrast to this, in one example of preferred embodiment ofthe present invention as illustrated in FIG. 5a, a replica for backup,namely Logical Volume B (Logical VOLB), is secured in a storages and acopy is made in advance. When backing up data in Logical Volume A(Logical VOLA), the data in Logical VOLA is copied to Logical VOLB inadvance too. To put it concretely, if Logical VOLA is a backup target,two logical volumes of Logical VOLA and Logical VOLB are prepared inadvance and duplication is directed.

[0051] While data in Logical VOLA is being copied to Logical VOLBsequentially in the storage unit, when data is written to the storageunit from an online job (JOBA in the figure) concurrently with thecopying, the duplicated writing of the data from the job isautomatically performed on both Logical VOLA and Logical VOLB in thestorage unit. After completion of copying sequentially from Logical VOLAto Logical VOLB, if data is written from JOBA, duplicated writing isalso performed to keep individual data of Logical VOLA and Logical VOLBidentical.

[0052] When performing backup, the backup server instructs the storageunit to perform pair split by using a means for controlling disk drives.After the split instruction, although data is written from JOBA, thestorage unit writes the data to Logical VOLA only, and not to LogicalVOLB. Thereby, data present in Logical VOLA when the split instructionis given is left in Logical VOLB as it is. After the split instruction,the backup software on the backup server reads data from the secondaryvolume, Logical VOLB, and makes a backup copy of the data to a backupdevice such as a tape unit.

[0053] However, for the volume duplication scheme illustrated in FIG.5a, a duplicated volume must be prepared before a time when backup isperformed. Therefore, in order to perform backup, volume duplicationmust be started further the duplication time before a backup time bytaking into consideration the time taken to duplicate a volume. Afunction of a storage unit illustrated in FIG. 5b solves this problem.

[0054] In the case of FIG. 5b, Logical VOLB to which a copy of LogicalVOLA is made must be prepared in the same way as for FIG. 5a. Beforestarting backup, the backup server instructs the storage unit to performpair split by using a means for controlling disk drives in the same wayas for the case of FIG. 5a. However, at this time, data in Logical VOLAdoes not need to have been copied to Logical VOLB. After the splitinstruction, the backup software on the backup server starts readingdata from the secondary volume, Logical VOLB. While data in Logical VOLAis being copied to Logical VOLB sequentially in the storage unit, ifthere in no data present in Logical VOLB when the backup server attemptsto read data from the secondary volume, Logical VOLB, the disk drivereads out data from Logical VOLA and hands the data over to the backupserver, or copies data from Logical VOLA to Logical VOLB once and thenhands the data over to the backup server. As a result of thisprocessing, although there is no data present in Logical VOLB at thetime of splitting, it appears from view of the backup server that a copyof data in Logical VOLA is present in Logical VOLB.

[0055] However, data may be written from the application server into acertain area of Logical VOLA during the backup processing. Since data inLogical VOLA is being copied to Logical VOLB sequentially in the storageunit, if the data from the application server is written into LogicalVOLB by the processing of copying, data after the split is also writteninto Logical VOLB. To prevent this, the storage unit reads LogicalVOLA's data currently present in the area for which a write demand ismade and writes the data out into Logical VOLB. After that, the storageunit writes into Logical VOLA the data which the application serverdemanded to write. As a result of this processing, data present inLogical VOLA only at the time of the split instruction is copied toLogical VOLB. With this method, data in the primary volume (LogicalVOLA) does not need to have been copied to the secondary volume (LogicalVOLB) when the backup processing starts, that is, system operation inwhich a copy of volumes must be prepared in advance is not required,resulting in improvement of system operational ability.

[0056]FIG. 7 illustrates an example of installing a system constructedfor the nondisruptive backup illustrated in FIGS. 4, 5a, and 5 b. Theapplication server is equipped with DBMS and a means for controllingdisk drives, and the backup server is equipped with backup software anda means for controlling disk drives. As an advance preparation, themeans for controlling disk drives is installed, its configuration is setup, and operation of the means for controlling disk drives is checked.After that, when constructing an non-disruptive backup system, first aDBMS script (Logging in, Setting the backup mode, Terminating the backupmode, and Logging out) is created, a script (Pair split, Pair eventwait, and Resynchronization) of the means for controlling disk drives inthe application server is created, collaborated operation with thebackup software is checked, and parameters for allocation of logicalunit and the means for controlling disk drives are set.

[0057] In addition, in the case of another example of non-disruptivebackup configurations illustrated in FIG. 6, the primary and secondaryvolumes created with the mirroring software are mirror split accordingto an instruction from the collaborating tool in the application server,and while backup is performed by using one volume (secondary volume),jobs are enabled to continue by using the other volume (primary volume).Then, after the backup terminates, resynchronization is performed. Toput it concretely, the duplicated writing to the primary and secondaryvolumes is performed with the mirroring software in the applicationserver, accessing a DB is stopped with the collaborating tool (software)in the application server, and accessing the DB is restarted aftermirror split is directed. Next, the backup copying of data in thesecondary volume is started to a backup device such as a tape unitconnected with the backup server by use of the collaborating tool(software) in the backup server. After that, the collaborating tool inthe application server that is notified of completion of the backup fromthe collaborating tool (software) in the backup server directs mirrorresynchronization and performs duplicated writing again.

[0058] Next, FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 illustrate the details of a configurationand function of the tape unit-shared backup. This function outlined isintended for reduction in the management cost of data that are scatteredamong many servers, and reduction in the load of a LAN with the resultthat high-speed backup is achieved. Further, by enabling a tape libraryto be shared among many server sides, the expansive library can be madethe effective use of (compared with the case where a backup tape unit isinstalled for each disk drive), and by sharing a single tape libraryamong multiple servers, backup data can be output directly to a tapeunit via a SAN without passing a LAN, resulting in achievement ofhigh-speed backup.

[0059] The left one of FIG. 8 illustrates conventional tape unit backup.Backup data is copied from each disk drive of individual servers via aLAN, through the backup server, to a tape unit, and hence data passes aLAN every backup case, a load is put on the LAN. Further, a load is alsoput on the backup server every backup case.

[0060] In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, in the case of LAN-free backup illustrated in the middle oneof FIG. 8, the backup processing can be speeded up by copying data froma disk drive to a tape unit via a SAN, and backup is achieved by use ofservers without passing a LAN. When performing backup, a single type ofserver can be used, and hence the load of servers is reduced. Inaccordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention,since server-less backup illustrated in the right one of FIG. 8 enablesto copy data directly from disk drives to a tape unit, the backupprocessing can be speeded up and the load of servers can be reduced aswell. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention as illustrated in the right one of FIG. 8, disk drives must beequipped with a capability of writing into tape units, tape units mustbe equipped with a capability of reading data from disk drives, FCswitches must be equipped with a capability of writing from disk drivesinto tape units, or FC-SCSI multiplexers (described later in theexplanation of FIG. 9) must be equipped with a capability of writingfrom disk drives into tape units if tape units are connected to theFC-SCSI multiplexers.

[0061]FIG. 9 illustrates another example of configurations for tapeunit-shared backup. The configuration shown in FIG. 9 corresponds toLAN-free backup shown in the middle one of FIG. 8. In this configurationexample, two or more nodes share a tape library concurrently andindividual servers back up. In accordance with FIG. 9, Server C isdifferent in functions from Servers A and B, has a backup managerinstalled for managing all over the backup, in addition to a backupagent necessary to perform a backup operation practically, and isequipped with functions of assigning a backup drive, etc. Here, thebackup drive, for example, has three drives and assigns Drive 1 toServer A. When a backup demand is made from Server A, the backup driveis controlled so that a tape cartridge for storing is loaded onto DriveA. In addition, drives may be assigned to servers in such a way that thebackup manager manages the condition of drive usage, selects unuseddrives, and assigns a proper drive of them. In the structure shown inFIG. 9, a set of an FC-SCSI multiplexer and a backup drive correspondsto a tape library shown in FIG. 8.

[0062] Concrete operation of the tape unit-shared backup shown in FIG. 9is described below. First, the agent on Server A demands the backupmanager to mount a tape cartridge. Next, the manager receiving thedemand mounts a tape cartridge onto any drive of a tape library. Then,the managers goes on to inform the agent on Server A of completion ofmounting and the name of the drive onto which a tape cartridge has beenmounted. Then, the agent on Server A performs backup actually. To put itconcretely, Server A reads data from a storage, and writes the data intothe mounted tape cartridge through an FC switch and an FC-SCSImultiplexer. Following this, after completion of backing up, the agenton Server A demands the manager to demount the tape cartridge. Themanager instructs to demount the tape cartridge, and all the processingterminates.

[0063] Next, the following describes a configuration for and a functionof asynchronous remote copying in the disaster recovery as a measure ofdata protection. This is intended for assurance of data security bycopying remotely at long distance, for quick restoration of a system inthe event of a disaster such as an earthquake, for duplication of adatabase to a remote site without affecting the performance of the mainsite, and for continuation of a job at the remote site in the event of adisaster.

[0064]FIG. 10 illustrates a system configuration for asynchronous remotecopying. A main site and a remote site are located away long enough fromeach other not to suffer from a disaster at the same time in the eventof it and are connected through communication lines. When information isupdated at the main site and the updating is complete, completion of theupdate is reported to a server (without waiting for reflectinginformation on the remote site, that is, asynchronously). Next, updateddata is copied sequentially at a proper timing from the main site to theremote site; however, if data is not transferred in the same order thedata was updated at the main site, updated data is sorted by the timesequence in a system at the remote site and then the data is copied withthe sequence of update guaranteed (for example, if update data ofreceipt and payment of money are stored in reverse order, this can causeto force improper dealings in processing of remains).

[0065] Next, the following describes a configuration for and a functionof highspeed replication between servers in data sharing. As shown inFIG. 11, when loading data between a DB on a main frame (backbonedatabase with high reliability ensured) and a DB on UNIX/NT servers (forexample, a database for which easiness in data handling is consideredmore important than reliability of data when performing the statisticalprocessing of data, and on which hence source data necessary for thestatistical processing is loaded from the main frame DB), intermediatefiles as a file of the main frame DB are set up, and the data is movedfrom the backbone DB to the intermediate files once (becausespecifications of the data loader of a UNIX server are not defined so asto read data directly from the backbone DB). Since the data in theintermediate files is converted to such a level that the data loader ofa UNIX server can read, a replication of data is made in the DB on theUNIX server through pipes to prepare a DB for the required processing.At this time, data replication from the backbone DB to the DB on theUNIX server is done without passing a LAN, and hence high-speedreplication between servers can be achieved. Here, intermediate filescan be a virtual volume that is created temporarily on semiconductormemory, namely cache memory, on the outside of magnetic disk drives.With cache memory, data can be transferred at a higher speed.

[0066] Furthermore, in order that UNIX servers or PC servers canconstruct a data warehouse easily, by installing in the UNIX servers ortheir attached units the software which is capable of performing easilyand quickly in GUI base a series of the processing from extracting datafrom a variety of source DBs such as backbone DB, through converting andconsolidating data, up to loading data, the time taken to transfer datacan be shortened when constructing a data warehouse.

[0067] Next, the following describes a configuration for and a functionof integrated operation and management of systems including storages.For computer systems that are large in size and is required to run24-hour-per-day continuously, system management, in particular, storagemanagement is considered important.

[0068] As a typical function of storage management, listed is monitoringfor device failures, in particular, what part fails in a device. Inaddition, required are system maintenance work such as backing up dataat each site periodically against a system crash, system settingmodification work when volumes are added, and further data handling suchas moving data in some volumes to other volumes when the performancedrops due to load congestion in a particular volume. At that time,monitoring the condition of the load is also important management work.In a conventional system, one maintenance terminal is installed for eachstorage unit, and individual storages must be managed from theirrespective terminals.

[0069] In a means of storage integrated operation and managementrelating to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, all storageunits can be managed by a single terminal.

[0070]FIG. 12 illustrates an example of backup operation and failuremonitoring in a large-scale office system. In ordinary officeenvironment, there are data used commonly within each department anddata used commonly by all departments. In this example, there existmultiple client computers and multiple server computers on floor A,floor B, and floor C individually, and a mail server and a World WideWeb (WWW) server which are used commonly as a enterprise general systemby all departments are prepared to provide their services to eachdepartment.

[0071] For a small-size data so that it is used by each department, inmany cases individual departments can make a copy of their respectivedata for backup, so a backup device such as a tape unit is installed inindividual departments. In addition, multiple large-scale storages tostore a large-size data and a backup device such as a tape library areinstalled at a computer center, and each device at the center, eachsystem on individual floor, and an enterprise general system areconnected mutually via a Storage Area Network.

[0072] A centralized monitoring console monitors all devices onindividual floor, in the enterprise general system and at the computercenter, and all device failure reports are collected to the centralizedmonitoring console. Service personnel can identify easily what device afailure occurs in by seeing the console. When data is destroyed due tofailures, the data can be recovered (restored) from a backup device.This restore processing can be also initiated from the centralizedmonitoring console. In addition, the centralized monitoring console hassuch a function that service personnel leave the terminal unattended insome cases, so in such a case a mail is sent to a cellular phone, etc.,of the service personnel from the centralized monitoring console tonotify them.

[0073] The centralized monitoring console also directs how to operatebackup and manages the backup. The frequency of backing up and therequirement of a destination of backing up vary with the kind of dataindividually. For example, data almost unnecessary to back up (forexample, data updated very rarely) and data accessed by only aparticular department or person do not need to be backed up frequently.Or, even if attempting to make a backup copy of all data at the sametime zone, there is a limit to the number of backup devices. Thecentralized monitoring console rearranges the frequency of backing up,the time zone, or the destination of the backing up in accordance withthe data or volume depending on the need of users, and automaticallyperforms the backup processing individually.

[0074]FIG. 14 illustrates a diagrammatic view of the processing ofsetting up volumes. In the case of a large-scale storage unit, multipledisk drives are grouped to one or multiple apparent logical devices(LDEVs). In addition, the storage unit has multiple ports to connect tohosts or fiber channel switches, and which ports are allowed to accessto individual LDEVs can be set and changed for the storage unit. When ahost references an LDEV, the LDEV is recognized uniquely with the portidentifier and logical unit number (LUN) of the storage unit. Hereafter,this set of a port identifier and an LUN is called the host address. Inthe storage unit, this host address is assigned to individual LDEVs andis made open to hosts.

[0075] From the centralized monitoring console, a host address isassigned to LDEVs, and the type of hosts that can access individualLDEVs is set. Since all hosts are connected to all storages via astorage area network, there is the risk that a host which is not allowednormally to access a storage gains an invalid access to the storage, sothe type of hosts that can access individual LDEVs can be registered inthe storage to prevent invalid access.

[0076]FIG. 13 illustrates an example of monitoring the performance ofstorages. The centralized monitoring console can watch the condition ofthe load of each volume. To put it concretely, the load condition is thenumber of times per second I/O operations are received, the ratio ofread and write operations, the cache hit rate, etc. Generally, a load isvery seldom put on all volumes evenly, and volumes with an extremelyhigh load put on them or volumes with nearly no load put on them maypresent. Since the condition in which an one-sided load is put onparticular multiple volumes can be monitored on the centralizedmonitoring console all at once, when watching this condition, a load isreallocated in such a way that part of data on heavy-loaded volumes ismoved to light-loaded volumes, thereby operation plan can be drawn upeasily so as to prevent the performance of a overall system from beingdropped.

[0077] In addition, FIG. 15 illustrates an example of a case where astorage unit has the functions of reallocating volumes. Some storageunits have a small capacity but a comparatively high speed of volumes,and other storage units have a large capacity but a low performance ofvolumes. In such a situation, it is better to move data which has a lowaccess frequency to a large capacity of volumes, and data which has ahigh access frequency to a high speed of volumes. In the disk drivesinvolved in this case, individual logical devices (LDEVS) can be movedto other areas.

[0078] In addition, reallocation of volumes is invisible from hosts bothduring movement of the logical devices and after movement of the logicaldevices, and volumes can be handled in the same as before movement. Diskdrives obtain the usage rate of logical devices as statisticalinformation, and send the information to a centralized monitoringconsole. The centralized monitoring console predicts how the usage rateof logical devices changes when a logical device is moved based on theinformation, and presents the prediction to service personnel. Servicepersonnel can draw a reallocation plan more easily than in the case ofthe previous figure based on the prediction. In addition, from thecentralized monitoring console, service personnel can instruct to movethe logical devices actually or not, or set in advance detailedconditions under which, when individual volumes are set in a certainstate, the volumes are automatically moved.

[0079] In addition, there is FC switch management as a part ofintegrated system operation and management, and the FC switch managementenables to make various settings of FC switches and to manage the statusof zoning, etc. To put it concretely, it includes management such as thedisplaying of a fabric topology, the setting of FC switches' zoning, andthe setting/displaying of various parameters in FC switches, and theseitems can be watched on the centralized monitoring console. FIG. 16illustrates an example of configurations of a fabric switch (FC) lyingbetween servers and storages with the switch divided into three zonings.

[0080] Next, on the whole configuration of a computer system relating toa preferred embodiment of the present invention described above, thefollowing describes an concrete example of cases where a terminal inwhich the operation and management software illustrated in FIG. 1 hasbeen installed, namely a management terminal, manages and controls thewhole configuration of a computer system.

[0081] To back up (FIG. 4), which volume in a storage is to be backed upmust be determined. Usually, a server manages data which an applicationstores in a storage in units of files. On the other hand, a storagemanages data in units of volumes.

[0082] Therefore, when backup is started, if the SAN management unit(terminal shown in FIG. 1, in which operation and management softwarehas been installed) is asked to back up a file by a server, the SANmanagement unit obtains information to identify a file, informationabout a backup device (address on a SAN, etc.), a backup time, etc.,from servers. Further, the SAN management unit obtains information toidentify a volume in which the relevant files have been stored fromstorages. Next, the SAN management unit instructs a storage in which therelevant files have been stored to create a replica (secondary volume)of a volume to be backed up using the obtained two kinds of information.To put it concretely, the SAN management unit instructs a storage whichhas a volume in which the relevant files have been stored to assignanother volume (secondary volume) for creating a replica of the relevantvolume (primary volume) and to create the replica. In assigning thesecondary volume, considerations must be taken so that a volume of atleast the same capacity as that of the primary volume must be assignedto the secondary volume, and the SAN management unit must grasp howlarge capacity and what configuration of volumes individual storageshave. When the creating of the secondary volume terminates, the SANmanagement unit, receiving this termination report, instructs thestorage to split a pair of volumes, and instructs the backup server tomake a backup copy of data from the secondary volume to a backup devicewhile keeping the primary volume occupied in the normal processing fromservers. The backup server reads data in the secondary volume via theSAN, and transfers the read data to the backup device. When the backupprocessing terminates, this is reported to the SAN management unit fromthe backup server, and then the SAN management unit reports terminationof the backup to an application that asked to back up. Note that a timeat which to split a pair of volumes is the backup time described above.In addition, a destination on the SAN to which to transfer backup datais said address of the backup device on the SAN. Here, whilecommunication of control information between the SAN management unit andstorages can be performed from the SAN management unit, through a LAN, aserver, and a SAN, to a storage as illustrated in FIG. 1, the SANmanagement unit not shown in the figure and storages are connecteddirectly via a LAN, said control information can be communicated throughthis connection.

[0083] In the above description, the SAN management unit plays thecentral role to control reception of a backup demand, creation and splitof a replica, the backup processing, and reporting of backuptermination, however, software in an application server and software ina backup server exchange control information directly via a LAN, andthereby can realize the backup system without making use of a SANmanagement unit (FIG. 6). In this case, compared with the case where aSAN management unit is used, individuals of software in the two serversmust collaborate, however, the SAN management unit described above isnot required, and hence this scheme is considered to be suitable for acomparatively small-scale system.

[0084] In the backup system described above, data is backed up bytransferring it to a backup device through a backup server, however,backup can be controlled so that data is transferred directly from thesecondary volume in a storage to a backup device via a SAN (directbackup) without passing a backup server. In the case where a SANmanagement unit is used, this backup is achieved by instructing astorage to transfer data in the secondary volume to a backup deviceafter the SAN management unit recognizes that a replica has been createdand split. This instruction includes the address of the backup device onthe SAN, etc.

[0085] In addition, in the backup system described above, applicationsplay the primary role to specify the backup file and the volume,however, for files and volumes which are updated frequently and requirebackup every day or every several hours, the load of applications can bereduced by specifying periodical backup for the management unit and thebackup software in advance.

[0086] Next, the following describes an example of functions of a SANmanagement unit in the tape unit-shared backup (FIG. 8). In the case ofthe LAN-free backup, data backup related to individual servers is almostthe same in backup operation as the backup described above. Differencesfrom the above are that since data associated with multiple servers mustbe backed up, conflict of the backup processing among these multipleservers must be arbitrated, and so functions of arbitrating thisconflict are required from the SAN management unit. For example, the SANmanagement unit is required to have functions of preventing accesscongestion in a tape library by instructing multiple servers to back upaccording to the schedule made out in advance, etc.

[0087] The following describes an example of controlling the zoningfunction illustrated in FIG. 16 as an example of operations of a SANmanagement unit. In FIG. 16, cluster servers are connected to storagesthrough a fabric switch. Here, the fabric switch is divided logically,that is, is treated as multiple switches. Therefore, if the storage sideoutput destination of the switch in Zoning 1 and the storage side outputdestination of the switch in Zoning 2 or Zoning 3 have been separated,cluster servers belonging to the switch in Zoning 1 can not gain accessto the switch in Zoning 2 or Zoning 3, and invalid access to the storageside output destination of the switch in Zoning 2 or Zoning 3 fromcluster servers belonging to the switch in Zoning 1 can be prevented.

[0088] Such set-up of zonings in the switch is enabled by connecting afabric switch and an SAN management unit not shown in the figure througha LAN, etc. not shown in the figure, and setting up said zonings in thefabric switch according to an instruction from the SAN management unit,etc. In the case where a SAN management unit is not used, zonings can beset up in the fabric switch by using a dedicated console, etc., however,control information for zoning must be set at the location of saiddedicated console each time cluster servers and storages are added,changed, or detached, resulting in inefficient operation. By using a SANmanagement unit and setting up zonings from the SAN management unitthrough communication, the operability is improved.

[0089] A few examples of operation of an SAN management unit aredescribed above, however, when providing various functions of the dataprocessing, the SAN management unit basically obtains from servers andstorages the information about files and volumes to be processed, aoperation timing, a destination to which to move data, etc., andinstructs the devices required based on these pieces of information toprocess files and volumes (replica creation, data copying, split ofreplica, backup copying, remote copying, etc.,) according to theoperation timing. Individual devices perform their processing accordingto instructions from the SAN management unit, and return the result ofprocessing. On as needed base, they can make the SAN management unitreturn the result to the client that asked to process.

[0090] To put it in order, a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention is considered to be composed of the following steps: step 1;an SAN management unit (terminal in which operation and managementsoftware has been installed as shown in FIG. 1) accepts a request forprocessing data in an integrated storage system from applications whichrun on individual application servers (this step can be replaced withanother step at which the SAN management unit creates a demand for dataon its own accord according to a schedule made out separately inadvance), step 2; obtains information (information to identify the datato be processed, a operation time, a destination to which to move data,etc.,) necessary for processing the relevant data, step 3; determinesthe order in which the SAN management unit starts various kinds offunctional software (software to execute replica creation, data copying,separation of replica, backup copying, remote copying, etc.,) whichreside on storages, network switches, and servers based on said obtainedinformation and makes out a schedule such as a start timing at which toexecute the functional software (this step is considered to be a stepfor collaborating individuals of the functional software), step 4;starts individuals of the functional software actually according to theschedule, step 5; obtains results of execution from the functionalsoftware on individual devices (this result at step 4 may affect theresult at step 3, namely a schedule), step 6; reports a result at step 5to an application that asked to process data. Note that this process isdivided to these steps for convenience, and two steps of them can becombined, or any step can be subdivided into several sub steps as aseparate step.

[0091] As described above, since a SAN management unit has functions ofcollaborating multiple pieces of functional software and operate them,the SAN management unit can realize easily complex functions thatindividuals of the functional software cannot achieve and the SANmanagement unit enables the more accurate data processing in anintegrated storage system. On the other hand, complex functions can beachieved by creating a single piece of large software withoutcollaborating multiple pieces of functional software, however, thisleads to a situation in which separate pieces of software must bedeveloped for each kind of the data processing, resulting in aninflexible system.

[0092] Next, the following describes how storage systems and storagearea network techniques are used in a large-scale computer system, usinga concrete example. FIG. 17 illustrates an example of configurations ofan Internet data center (abbreviated to “iDC”), which has been expandingin the number of systems recently. The Internet data center is entrustedwith Internet service providers (ISPs) and WWW servers of individualenterprises (this system is called “housing”), and provides networkmanagement and server operation and management. Further, it alsoprovides value-added services such as web design, construction of anelectronic commerce (EC) system, and addition of high-degree security.The Internet data center provides solutions together that solve problemsin enterprises, which want to do Internet business, such as shortage ofsystem staffs and their skill, and preparation of server installationplaces and networks.

[0093] Since high-priced equipment such as a high-speed network line isshared in an Internet data center, there is a feature that an Internetdata center, in provider's place, can provide services to manyenterprises at a low cost. In addition, users and enterprises whichutilize an Internet data center are released from burdensome work suchas backup and maintenance and deal with a business at a lower cost thanrunning a system alone. However, since iDC runs many Internetenvironments and many pieces of application software that individualenterprises use, high-speed Internet backbone lines and manyhigh-performance servers must be installed. In addition, thesefacilities must have high reliability and high security. In theseenvironments, high-speed and highly functional storage systems areindispensable.

[0094] The following describes an example of applying storage areanetwork techniques to a large-scale system such as an Internet datacenter.

[0095]FIG. 18 illustrates a schematic configuration diagram of anInternet data center to which a large-scale storage area network (SAN)is applied. Multiple server computers exist at each enterprise, storagessuch as a disk drive and a tape unit are consolidated to a few units,one or two-three units, and servers and disk drives/tape units areconnected mutually through fiber channel switches. Although individualstorage units must be connected to individual server computers in anenvironment in which a SAN does not exist, storage units can be sharedby all computers through a SAN, and hence can be consolidated andmanaged. In addition, when adding storage units, the storage units canbe added while a host computer is in online (in operation), so theaddition does not affect jobs.

[0096] In addition, from the point of view of backup, storageconsolidation through a SAN plays an effective role. Here, FIG. 19illustrates a schematic configuration diagram of an example ofnon-disruptive backup under a SAN environment at an Internet datacenter. In this figure, individual server computers, storages, andbackup libraries of multiple enterprises are connected mutually via astorage area network. A management host exists on the SAN to managestorage devices and to operate backup. Data in each server computer, forexample, Web contents on a WWW server and data used by an applicationserver, have been consolidated and stored in storages on the SAN.

[0097] The demands for backup is considered to be varied depending onthe circumstances of each host computer. For example, there are caseswhere it is desirable that a backup copy of data is taken every day at atime when a load of access to a host computer drops, that is, during atime zone such as midnight for which the number of times access is madeto disk drives decreases, or it is desirable that in the case of a hostcomputer which is very busy on the processing of an update type oftransactions, the host computer determines a backup start timeoptionally according to the time and circumstances, such as a time whena flow of transactions breaks. The management host accepts those demandsfrom individual host computers and manages backup processing properly.In addition, since 24-hour-per-day continuous operation is important atan Internet data center, interruption of processing on the host computermust be avoided and non-disruptive backup is mandatory. Described belowbriefly is an example of backup processing.

[0098] For example, if individual server computers want to make a backupcopy at some timing once a day, the management host makes out a scheduleof the backup beginning and ending for individual server computers. Forexample, a backup operation for a WWW server of Company A begins atmidnight, a backup operation for an application server of Company B atone in the morning, a backup operation for an application server ofCompany A at half past one in the morning, a backup operation for a WWWserver of Company B at three in the morning, and so on. Time taken toperform the backup processing depends on the amount of data thatindividual servers keep, etc., and hence the management host manageswhat amount of data individual server computers keep in storages, andcalculates the time taken for backup based on the amount of data andmakes out a schedule. In addition, if a tape library has multiple tapedrives, multiple backup jobs can be executed concurrently.

[0099] Taking as an example a case where a backup operation for CompanyA begins at midnight, the following describes a flow of processing. Whenmidnight comes, the management host creates a replica of data, presentin disk drives, of a WWW server of Company A. For that, the managementhost finds out a free disk (logical volume) in a disk drive, assigns itto a volume for the replica of a WWW server of Company A, and instructsthe disk drive to create the replica. A flow of the processing ofcreating a replica is that as illustrated in detail in FIG. 5a and FIG.5b.

[0100] Following this, a tape cartridge is mounted onto a tape drive ina tape library. After that, the copying of backup data begins from thereplica volume to the tape library. The server computer of Company A canperform the data backup processing, however, if the direct backupfunction by which data is transferred directly from the management hostor a disk drive to a tape library is supported (all right if at leastany of a disk drive, a tape library, and a FC switch supports), thisfunction can actually be used for backup processing.

[0101] In that case, while the server computer is not aware of whetherthe backup processing is performed or not, a backup copy of data isautomatically made. When the backup processing is complete, the tapecartridge is demounted from the tape drive, the replica volume in thedisk drive is placed out of use, the volume is set to a free volumeagain, and the next backup processing follows.

[0102] In this case, since the tape library is shared and connectedmutually via the SAN, if the schedule of tape library utilization ismanaged properly by the role of the management host, etc., one tapelibrary can cover all their backup volumes even for multiple hostcomputers. In addition, it is sufficient to prepare a replica volumeonly at the time the backup processing is needed if the management hostassigns volumes properly, a replica volume does not need to be alwaysprepared in individual volumes, and hence the number of tape libraryunits and the number of volumes, etc., can be reduced.

[0103] Next, though the merits of sharing of storage units through a SANare large in cost reduction, on the other hand, there are considerationsto be taken in an environment in which servers of multiple enterprisescoexist. One of them is security. All server computers can gain accessto all storage units on a SAN via the SAN, so a server of Company C canlook at data of Company A on the same SAN. Next, described below areexamples of means by which to solve these problems.

[0104]FIG. 20 illustrates an environment in which server computers andstorages of multiple enterprises coexist on a SAN at an Internet datacenter. Under the environment in which storages are shared by CompaniesA, B, and C as illustrated in the figure, first zonings of an FC switchare set so that server computers of individual enterprises can gainaccess to a particular path only to storage units. Next, LUs that servercomputers of individual enterprises use are assigned to individual pathsin the disk drives. For example, if Company B uses two logical units ofLU2 and LU2, LUs 1 and 2 are assigned to the middle path, and if CompanyC uses LU0, LU0 is assigned to the right path.

[0105] Further, there are multiple LUs on the same path and the LUs areshared by multiple servers, however, individual servers do not want toshare in some case. For example, Company B secures the path to access LU1 and LU 2 in FIG. 20, however, there may be a requirement in which onlysome particular one of Company B's servers is permitted to gain accessto LU1. In that case, access limitation is done by use of the LUN. TheWWN of a particular server of Company B is registered in a disk drive,and it can be set so that only a server whose WWN has been registeredcan gain access to LU1.

[0106] These zonings, path assignment, and access limitation in units ofLUs are set on the centralized monitoring console. The topology of an FCswitch is checked on the monitoring console, zonings are set based onthe topology, further as many LUs as necessary are mapped on individualpaths, and LUs that individual companies can use are registered.Furthermore, for LUs to which mutual access is not permitted within thesame path, the centralized monitoring console obtains the WWNs of hostcomputers that are permitted to access, sets them in a disk drive, andlimits access in units of LUs.

[0107] Next, described below is an example of applying a computer systemwhich uses an integrated storage system consisting of a SAN and variousstorages. In recent years, merge and consolidation of enterprises haveincreased. As a result, this gives rise to the need to integratecomputer systems among enterprises.

[0108]FIG. 21 illustrates an example of a large-scale computer system inwhich computer systems of multiple enterprises are connected mutually.Host computers among enterprises are connected through the Internet, andmutual utilization of data is achieved. In addition, by introducingstorage area networks, storages in individual enterprises are organizedso that they are also connected through a public switched network orleased lines.

[0109] From the point of view of computer system operation, integrationof data is important. Usually, application databases that are used byindividual enterprises are different, only straightforward mutualconnection among devices does not make direct mutual use of dataavailable. Therefore, generally, individual data from multiple databasesmust be consolidated and integrated to construct a new database.

[0110] In FIG. 21, Enterprises A and B individually have a backbonedatabase by which transaction processing such as account processing isperformed, and an database of information system by which analysisprocessing is performed in offline using data in the backbone database.In this example, the data of the backbone databases of Enterprise A andEnterprise B are integrated to create a data mart for various jobs. Insome case, a large-scale data warehouse is constructed once, and then asmall-scale data mart for various applications may be created from thedata warehouse individually. In the case where does not exist anenvironment in which storages are connected mutually via a storage areanetwork, when integrating databases, data must be moved through a hostcomputer and a network. Usually, many databases which enterprises wantto share have a large capacity, and hence it takes a large amount oftime to transfer data.

[0111] In the example in FIG. 21, a replica of Enterprise B's data iscreated by using a remote copying function in storages. A replica volumeis split once at a frequency of once a day or once a week, etc., and areplication server reads data in the split replica volume to createvarious data marts. Replication servers exist separately from varioustypes of DBMS of information system which make use of data marts.Storages are combined mutually via a storage area network, and a replicaof a database can be created without putting any load on a host by usingthe remote copying function in storages. In addition, replicationservers that creates data marts, and DBMS of information system can berealized on separate host computers individually, and hence theprocessing of creating data marts does not affect jobs of a backbone DBand a DB of information system.

[0112] According to the present invention, an integrated storage systemcan be constructed by reinforcing collaboration of components orfunctions of a storage system in which a SAN is used, and all variousfunctions illustrated in FIG. 3 can be achieved.

[0113] Further, by connecting an integrated storage system to theInternet and applying the system to an Internet data center that keeps alarge capacity of data and achieves utilization of the data, Internetinformation services can be provided efficiently in the cost and both ofquantity and quality, and timely.

1. A computer system which has plural client computers, plural variousservers, plural various storages which keep data, a local area network(LAN) which connects said computers and said servers, and a storage areanetwork (SAN) which lies between said servers and said storages, whereinsaid SAN forms a switched circuit network which is capable of connectingany said servers and any said storages through fiber channel switches(FC switches), said computer system comprising a terminal havingoperation and management software which performs storage managementcomprising management of logical volumes in said plural storages, dataarrangement and error monitoring, management of setting up said FCswitches, and a backup operation for data in said storages.
 2. Thecomputer system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said SAN is connected toSAN in other computer system via a wide area network (WAN).
 3. Thecomputer system as claimed in claim 1, wherein when data in a primaryvolume in said storage is backed up to a backup device in anon-disruptive manner, a secondary volume corresponding to said primaryvolume is created in said storage by an internal function, a copy ismade from said primary volume to said secondary volume, and said copy istransferred to said backup device via said SAN without passing said LAN.4. A computer system which has plural client computers, plural variousservers, plural various storages which keep data, a local area network(LAN) which connects said computers and said servers, a storage areanetwork (SAN) which lies between said servers and said storages wherein:wherein said SAN forms a switched circuit network which is capable ofconnecting any said servers and any said storages through fiber channelswitches (FC switches), and wherein when data in said storage is backedup to a backup device in a non-disruptive manner, said storage hasfunction of receiving instruction of a volume split from said server,function of assuming as if data in a primary volume were kept in asecondary volume at the time of said instruction, and function ofbacking up said data from said secondary volume to a backup device.
 5. Amethod for managing a system having servers, a storage which keeps dataof said servers, a network which connects said servers and said storage,and a backup device which is connected with said network and backs upsaid data, said method comprising: a first step of obtaining informationto identify data to be executed; a second step of obtainingspecification of processing a data denoted by said information; a thirdstep of instructing said storage which keeps the data denoted by saidinformation to execute said specification of processing; and a fourthstep of receiving of processing the data denoted by said informationfrom said storage result.
 6. The method for managing said system asclaimed in claim 5, wherein said specification of processing is totransfer said data from said storage to said backup device.
 7. Themethod for managing said system as claimed in claim 5, wherein saidspecification of processing is to create a copy of the data denoted bysaid information, and to transfer said created copy data to said backupdevice.
 8. The method for managing said system as claimed in claim 5,further comprising a fifth step of obtaining a timing at which saidspecification of processing is executed and a sixth of controllingexecution timing of said third step according to said timing.
 9. Themethod for managing a system as claimed in claim 5, wherein said serverin said system is connected with an internet, and said data is sent outto said internet.
 10. The method for managing said system as claimed inclaim 6, wherein said server in said system is connected with aninternet, and said data is sent out to said internet.
 11. The method formanaging said system as claimed in claim 7, wherein, said server in saidsystem is connected with an internet, and said data is sent out to saidinternet.
 12. The method for managing said system as claimed in claim 8,wherein said server in said system is connected with an internet, andsaid data is sent out to said internet.